Each pair of fiber cables are capable of carrying up to 960 gigabytes per second, about the equivalent of bandwidth needed for 15 million simultaneous voice calls. The line is expected to initially increase trans-Pacific “lit” cable capacity by about 20 percent, and could potentially add up to 7.68 terabytes per second of bandwidth across the Pacific. The cable system is expected to be ready for service in the first quarter of 2010.

Fiber-optic cable capacity across the Pacific is expected to increase 96 percent from 2007 through the end of this year, said Alan Mauldin, research director with Washington-based research firm TeleGeography.